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Texas Tech waiting for presidential applications, recommendations

The system hopes to attract and identify top candidates through its new website

Lawrence Schovanec has been filling the role as interim president of Texas Tech while the university searches for a replacement for Guy Bailey. Tech has launched a website, shown above, as a key component in the search process.

Texas Tech University has launched a website to aid in the search for a new president. Tech is searching to replace Guy Bailey, who left for the University of Alabama. (Website Image)

Texas Tech officials launched a website Tuesday to attract and identify top candidates for the university’s presidency.

Now, they wait.

Texas Tech System Chancellor Kent Hance said the website, www.texastech.edu/ttupresidentsearch, is an important component of spreading the word.

“There will be people ... that will know someone they want to recommend, and there will be some who want to apply,” he said. “We took out an advertisement in The Chronicle of Higher Education and a few publications like that to let people know we’re starting the process. The website is important because it allows people to get a feel for what we’re doing. If somebody has questions, they can go to the website and get their questions answered.”

The new president of Texas Tech will succeed 15th President Guy Bailey, who recently was named president of his alma mater, the University of Alabama.

Tech system Board of Regents Chairman Jerry Turner said the website launch, combined with the first advertisement running this week, kicks off the search process. All the advertisements for the opening will refer to the website, he added.

The website offers information concerning the search committee, advisory council, search process, position description and information about Tech. There also is a tab about applying for the position and making nominations.

Angelo State University’s presidency also is open. Joseph Rallo, who recently was announced as vice chancellor of academic affairs at the Tech system, will remain president of ASU until a replacement is named.

A similar website, www.texastech.edu/presidentsearch, offers information about the job and the university.

Robert W. Lawless, senior consultant with AGB Search, is assisting in both the searches. Lawless served as Tech and Health Sciences Center president from 1989 to 1996, according to the search firm’s website.

Lawless did not return phone calls Thursday afternoon.

Committees and process

Texas Tech named the 26-member advisory council Sept. 13, and the 11-member search committee was announced Aug. 22. The search committee also includes six non-voting members.

The chairwoman of the advisory council, Regent Nancy Neal, said the group is made up of a cross-section of people with a vested interest in who the next president will be: faculty, deans, staff, community members and previous regents.

The council’s first meeting is scheduled for early October, she said. She estimated the members will meet a few times as portfolios are submitted.

According to the search website, applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Applications should be submitted no later than Nov. 21 to ensure full consideration by the search committee.

After all the applications are submitted, the advisory council will rank the 10 to 12 finalists they believe merit an interview.

“I’ve been on a number of searches in this system and others,” Neal said. “Many candidates that come in, they’re just not qualified. Their body of work and background wouldn’t lend themselves to be strong candidates for the presidency.”

Hance said the search committee will interview those 10 to 12 finalists, and submit three or four names to him. He will make a decision and recommend the person to the board to be approved.

It’s not uncommon to receive recommendations from the public, Hance added.

“We had 49 applicants and suggestions on the presidency at Angelo State that we’re going through right now,” he said. “With Texas Tech being a Division I school, we’ll have even more.”

Hance also is seeking out colleagues in the higher education community and asking them for recommendations, he said.

Qualifications and qualities

The most important quality Hance is looking for is someone who agrees with the university’s goals of growth, reaching tier-one status and becoming one of the top public research university in the nation.

“It’s got to be so they believe in those goals,” Hance said. “We’ve got to look and make sure the chemistry is good, if you get along with the person. They have to have experience of management of people, whether in higher education or in the private business sector.”

For Turner, who serves as chairman of the search committee, the quality he looks for most in a candidate is leadership.

“I think we need a visionary leader with an established background of experience and leading a university such as ours into a new era,” he said. “I’m hoping we can find someone who is very analytical and understands what will be required to increase our standing among national universities — so they’re analytical in that regard — someone who is strategic and will help us to craft a plan to move to that position as a highly recognized national university, and someone who can lead us as we seek to implement that plan.”